Game of Thrones: The 11 most important differences between the books and show

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Nobody is badass enough

This is a big pet peeve I have with the show: nobody seems as cool as they ought to. Based on screen-time spent fighting, by far the best swordsman in the world is Jon Snow, a half-grown student at the series’ outset. The real martial powers, like Jaime Lannister, are given no or almost no opportunity to strut their stuff. Jaime is supposed to be God-like with the sword but only ever gets a chance to fight well once, in an aborted fight against Ned Stark. After that, it’s nothing but humiliations and defeats for the Lanniser son — which would be much more affecting if we had ever actually seen him win at anything.

I suspect we will run into similar problems with Barristan Selmy; called the greatest swordsman alive, but all we’ve ever seen him kill is a beetle. This could pay off later, as we watch him square up for a fight and wonder if he can handle it (he can) but Selmy’s place as royal bodyguard is undercut by the total lack of evidence that he is what people say he is.

Finally, and most egregiously, the Mountain that Rides, Gregor Clegane, is a huge wuss this time ’round. All we see him do is lose a jousting match, kill a horse, kill helpless prisoners, kill more helpless prisoners, then get messed up by a Spanish guy. Re-castings and budget constraints probably have a lot to do with this one, but very few of the show’s most imposing characters actually seem all that tough.

Brienne and the Hound

In the finale to Season 4, we saw the (presumed) demise of Sandor Clegane (among others), but the show’s portrayal of the Hound’s final moments was not canonical. In the books, Clegane is injured in a bar fight (shown in the show, but with different consequences.) Perhaps due to his aversion to fire as a cleansing agent for the wound, the Hound falls quickly to infection. Arya leaves him to die, just as in the show, but it was a microbe that took him down. On TV, it was much more dramatic than that. Brienne and the increasingly trusty Podrick stumble upon the duo (rather a stretch…) and a particularly brutal fight ensues. Somehow Brienne escapes with all her teeth intact, despite what the Mountain’s mailed fist did to Oberyn’s chompers, and the Hound goes down hard. In true Game of Thrones style, Brienne threw down without asking for, or receiving, any gender-based quarter. It’s a great scene, but not found in the books at all.

Let’s keep some perspective, though. It can’t have been easy to make a show like this, and to pull out only the most vital parts of a beloved epic. The show’s creators have done an admirable job overall, even in the estimation of George R.R. Martin himself. The author has been very involved in the screenwriting process, so don’t get too upset. Have a some boar and mead, put on the Rains of Castamere, and curl up next to either version of the story.